For Whom The Bell Tolls
by Dosu2Dinner
Summary: Part of collaboration with Zerojackson. From birth, Naruto is placed in an elite sound team set to infiltrate Konoha. But what will he discover became of the village he never lived in? And what other things have been hidden from him? My first fanfic, so please be nice! Possibly NaruHina or NaruKin.
1. Prologue

**Hi all. This fanfic is part of a collaboration with Zerojackson's Vipers Path. It has a similar plot, but with differences. As you may well have read the description, it has a storyline which has probably been done plenty of times, but we decided to have a shot at it to see how it went. Post your ideas about the pairings in this story, because I'm not yet entirely sure (Naruto will either be paired with Hinata or Kin, like in VP). Rate&Review and of course enjoy, but remember, this is my first fanfic, so please be nice! **

Prologue –

The two ANBU men who stood outside the Hokage's office were not currently displaying the attitude typical of people with such professions. For a start, they were arguing.

"We can't tell him. It's far too big a loss."

"Well, what are we supposed to do?"

"C'mon, literally an hour ago he was re-elected as Hokage, and now we tell him that –"

The door opened and the two men fell silent as Hiruzen Sarutobi stepped out of his office.

"Well?" he said. After no reply was given, he continued. "Come inside you two. I have a feeling there is something you want to tell me."

He said it very heavily and sounded defeated. It was clear to the two shinobi that he already knew everything.

"Well," the first of the two men began. "The host for the Nine-Tailed Kyuubi…"

"Naruto Uzumaki."

"Yes, Lord Hokage. Well, he was…taken."

"By whom?"

"Orochimaru."

Hiruzen took his hat off and placed it on his desk next to him, and then looked hard at the two ANBU men.

"I already know that. What I want to know is why you let him get away, or even why you let him take Naruto in the first place."

"I can vouch for this Lord Hokage," the second ANBU member replied. "Twenty of us went out to seize back the h- Naruto. But only four of us came back. Orochimaru is a killer. We couldn't have stopped him."

"That's beside the point." To the surprise of the two shinobi, Hiruzen was livid. They had never seen him so angry.

"There should have been tighter security around the child. Were you avoiding him just because he had the Kyuubi inside him? He is a human being too, you know. He is the son of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki. And you just left him there? No wonder he was captured."

He sat back down and breathed out heavily.

"And where was Itachi during all this?" he demanded of them.

The two men paused. The established leader of the ANBU hadn't been with them throughout the entire Kyuubi attack. Was there a reason for it?

"Sorry," one of them said eventually. "We don't know where Itachi is."

Hiruzen sat back in his chair.

"Alright," he said. "I suppose you've told me everything you can. Leave."

They left at once.

Hiruzen thought long and hard about the issues befalling him. Orochimaru, one of his own students, though a renegade, had taken the son of the Fourth Hokage who was also the host of the Kyuubi. It was not a good position to be in at all. However, Hiruzen was confident that the seal on Naruto was enough to stop Orochimaru getting at it for the time being. And he must have known this when he captured him, therefore, killing Naruto was not his plan, as he simply would've done it on the spot. Whatever Orochimaru wanted Naruto for, it couldn't be anything good, but Hiruzen was confident that Orochimaru would show up sooner or later, when Naruto was a lot older.

"_That will be the time to take him back to civilized society,"_ he decided.

But Hiruzen's night was far from over. He still had several more people he needed to see. Right on cue, there was a knock at the door.

Without waiting for admittance, the door opened and a tall man strode in, wearing a long robe and with long black hair and icy eyes. He was followed by a heavily pregnant woman, who had the same style hair, but slightly warmer looking pupil-less eyes and with a more humble demeanour.

"Hiashi," Hiruzen said. "At least you remembered to knock this time, this time you just need to wait."

Hiashi ignored the Hokage's rebuke and snapped,

"Konno! Get me a chair!"

The woman nodded and grabbed a nearby chair and placed it behind her husband to sit on. Hiruzen did not object. He was far too used to the misogyny and autocracy of the Hyūga clan for that.

"I have an issue, Lord Hokage," Hiashi said briskly. "Within a month or so, my wife will give birth to the heiress of the Hyūga clan. After that has occurred, we must continue with our own private ways of the Hyūga clan. Therefore, we will now break off the Hyūga Social Act.

The Hyūga Social Act was an act commissioned and passed by the Fourth Hokage. The Act was designed to try to improve the extremely bureaucratic Hyūga clan views, as with Hiashi as head, it had become worse than ever. Even though many main branch Hyūgas had protested against this act, Minato was insistent.

"_The claim of being a noble clan of Konoha,"_ he had said, _"comes with responsibilities as well as privileges. The Uchihas and the Aburames are introverted, yes, but they are not anti-social. And you can't claim to be a leaf shinobi if you do not act within the village."_

It was such an act that first allowed Hyūga children to attend the academy and the chuunin exams, as supposed to just being trained privately. It had also allowed branch members to have less birth control, which allowed Hiashi's brother Hizashi and his wife to have their son, Neji, about a year before.

"So, you're now going to extinguish the act completely?" Hiruzen asked. "After everything Minato did?"

"Not entirely," Hiashi corrected. "We will still allow our children to attend the academy and the chuunin exams. But whatever occurs within our clan and how we treat our inferior branches is our business."

"What if I do not agree to break off the act?" Hiruzen asked.

"I would have thought you would have more to deal with," Hiashi snapped.

Hiruzen took a brief puff on his pipe.

"My consent is given," he said. "But I warn you Hiashi, your doctrines will not go longer. Soon, there will be a new head of the Hyūga clan."

"And she will agree with me entirely!" Hiashi insisted, staring in a proud fury at the as yet unborn Hinata Hyūga.

"Personally," he continued. "I would have preferred a male heir, which is why I had to punish Konno after the scans were confirmed. Obviously it was mainly psychological, otherwise a miscarriage would have occurred…"

"That," Hiruzen cut in, stopping Hiashi's arrogant waffle. "Is the sort of barbarity he wanted to eradicate from the Hyūga clan. I will let you continue with your way in the Hyūga clan Hiashi, but if you go too far, I promise you, you will not get away with it."

Hiashi glared at Hiruzen, before turning on his heel and marching out of the office. Konno followed.

Just before she exited, Hiruzen said,

"I promise Konno, I will not let your daughter be demoralized."

Konno nodded, and departed.

Hiruzen then waited for another half an hour, just to make sure he was alone.

Then a figure dropped onto one knee before him. It was wearing an ANBU mask.

"Itachi," Hiruzen addressed him. "I hope you have commissioned a group of men to search for Naruto Uzumaki and Orochimaru?"

"Yes."

"Good. Then I have a task for you personally."

"What is it?" Itachi had always been chosen for tasks to be carried out on his own due to his unique ability. He found it highly unlikely that he would be surprised by the task he was given.

"You must keep a close watch on the Hyūga clan," Hiruzen explained, "and make sure that they do not go beyond the wishes of us all. If the worst comes to the worst, I need you to kill Hiashi."

"But my lord…"

"Yes?"

"If my clan do organise a coup de 'at…"

"We've spoken about this before. If your clan do organise a coup de 'at, then you must wipe them out, otherwise they will destroy the village."

"But then I will be forced to flee, leaving my work with the Hyūgas unfinished," Itachi countered.

"Yes," Hiruzen agreed. "But I have to work with priority. Now leave."

Itachi left.

Hiruzen leaned back and closed his eyes. He had been called out of retirement, and now there were three extreme, possibly dangerous issues on his hands.

"This won't be an easy run…" he muttered to himself.

Somewhere outside the Hidden Leaf Village, a tall white-robed figure stood, half submerged in shadow, a tiny bundle in his arms. For the time being however, he didn't seem interested in the bundle; he was gazing at the ground, were sixteen ANBU members were lying motionless.

"Such a shame," he said to himself. "They could have helped train him. Oh well. I guess I'll have to leave that task to my professionals." He then fixed his gaze back on the bundle in his arms.

In the bundle, Naruto Uzumaki gazed back, his ocean blue eyes fixed on Orochimaru's gold slit-pupil ones. He could hardly now what was in store for him for the next thirteen years.

"Your fellow villagers would have treated you poorly," Orochimaru informed Naruto, running his cold, pale fingers over the seal that held the Kyuubi inside his body. "They would have shunned you, excluded you and would have never have begun to explore this unique gift you've been given."

He smiled to himself, his fang-like teeth glinting in the moonlight.

"But I will," he declared. "You will useful to me, and in time you will become my personal lieutenant!"

Still smiling, Orochimaru made sure his grip on Naruto was secure, and, without glancing back once, he began to head north.

**Well, that's the prologue done. Rate&Review, if you have criticisms, then by all means give them, but DO NOT flame. Thank you. Oh, and please excuse any continuity errors occurring within this story, as I'm a little rusty concerning Naruto canon.**


	2. Chapter 1

**First of all, I want to say thank you. Thank you for giving me such positive reviews, you guys. It really means a lot to me. So, here is your reward essentially, the next chapter of For Whom The Bell Tolls, just a day after the first one! Rate&Review as always.**

**Disclaimer – I do not own Naruto. If I did, why would I be writing disclaimers?**

Chapter One -

"OK, so can you see him?"

Two ninja were vigilant, keeping their sights out for a certain someone. However, this someone was not as at much risk as you may think – the ninja in question were only used for training rookies.

The rookie in question was sitting atop a tree, hoping not to be spotted by the two sound ninja.

He was a runty looking kid, with spiky blond hair, which was being held back by a forehead protector with the symbol of the Hidden Sound village on it. He was also wearing a jumpsuit coloured with a creative mix of orange and black.

Naruto Uzumaki had been training in the Hidden Sound Village for as long as he could remember, but it was only recently that he had had company.

Carefully, he put one of his fingers on the small radio contraption he was wearing in his ear and whispered into it.

"Zaku, both of yours have come over here. It's likely your area is free, believe it!"

"That last part really wasn't necessary," Zaku hissed back. "OK…"

It was then silent.

A few minutes later, a massive explosion of dust a short distance away told Naruto what he needed to know. Zaku had hit his target.

"Now to get myself past these guys," he muttered to himself. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Five copies of himself materialized and the six of them leapt out of the trees down onto the sound ninja trainers.

The ninja reacted quickly, and by the time Naruto and his shadow clones had worked out they were attacking rocks, the sound ninja were a distance away from him and making hand-signs.

"Fire Style! Double Inferno!" A massive fireball was formed by the combination of the ninjas' chakra and sent straight at Naruto. Suddenly realising the danger he was in, he fled in the first direction he thought of, which was, essentially, any direction.

Unsurprisingly, the five of his shadow clones quickly disappeared. Naruto himself was still being chased by the fireball, and in an attempt to avoid it, flattened himself against the ground. The fireball passed over him, so close to his body that he felt its scorching heat and the tips of his hair were singed.

The fireball then hit a nearby tree, causing a massive fiery explosion and sending Naruto cascading backwards, screaming, right at the feet of the two Oto ninja.

He cringed, preparing for a beating.

But it didn't come. Instead, one of the ninja briefly talked into his own radio contraption, and then looked down at the blond nin.

"Well," he said. "Looks like it's your lucky day." And then two of them departed by leaping off into the trees.

"Hey!" Naruto hollered after them. "What was all that about?" He gazed around the smouldering remains of the field, wondering why they had suddenly taken off like that.

Suddenly, a high-pitched feedback whine ripped through his eardrum.

"Ahhh!" he gasped. He put his finger to the speaker contraption in his ear. "What the hell?"

"Naruto." It was Zaku. He sounded extremely smug. "We've got it. Come over to the far side."

Naruto sighed. Wasn't that just great? Whilst he lay at the mercy of two malevolent training ninja, Zaku went to get the object they were supposed to be retrieving, along with all the glory that came with it!

However he quickly went over to where Zaku had specified, and found his team-mate there, wearing his regular beige shirt with death written all over it. He had removed his forehead protector with the face guard, and was pretty much just lounging around. A long sword lay next to him.

"THAT'S the object we were supposed to be retrieving?" Naruto asked, flabbergasted.

"Oh yeah," Zaku replied, casting it a careless look. "Apparently it belongs to Lord Orochimaru himself."

"Why on earth would he leave it lying around?" Naruto asked.

Zaku face-palmed.

"Are you seriously that slow?" he asked incredulously. "He didn't leave it lying around! It was used for the training, buried eighteen feet underground, guarded by genjutsu and that goes without mentioning the training ninja." As he said this, Zaku tenderly rubbed a large cut on his arm. It was only natural that the ninja aim for that part of his body, as Zaku's arms were his primary weapons.

"So…err…where's Kin?" Naruto asked, suddenly realising their other team-mate wasn't with them.

"She's just gone off to check that all the training ninja have actually left," Zaku replied. "Ah, here she comes now."

Kin was indeed walking over to join them, her exceedingly long black hair glistening in the sun's rays. She had a cut under one eye and seemed to be deep in thought.

"Alright," she said. "So we managed to get the sword. But what do we do now?"

Zaku shrugged.

"Take a chill, gal. Who really cares what we do next? We've passed this test haven't we?"

Kin sighed and sat down next to the sword.

"Maybe…" she rubbed the blade. As she did so, it began to glow.

"Oh great, what now?" Naruto asked, leaping to his feet. The three of them watched as the blade uprighted itself, and then began to morph into a human figure.

It was only a few seconds before there was, where there was once a sword, there was now a human.

Tayuya swept her eyes over the three of them, taking in everything. What a bunch of novices.

"OK," she said in a loud, dominating voice. "I should congratulate you on passing this preliminary test. Granted, you were a little slower than your other companion, but now you will join him in slightly more formal Sound Village training. Follow me."

Their other team-mate, Dosu, had passed first time doing the test. For the three of them, it had taken another four attempts to pass it, but now they had finally managed it, so they followed Tayuya obediently. Even though a sword morphing into a member of Orochimaru's personal bodyguard shook them a little bit, they had seen far weirder things. Things like that were only natural when it came to living in Otogakure.

Tayuya was leading them away from the field, and into some of the few buildings that composed this village. They passed through several rice fields, the namesake of the country, and many rice farmers were working in them. When they saw Tayuya however, they instantly all bowed.

Naruto gazed at the bowing heads with curiosity. He had seen these rice farmers bow at senior sound ninja before, but now he stopped to think, why were all the Sound Four so important here?

"How come Orochimaru rules this place anyway?" he whispered to Kin. If he had asked Zaku, he would have instantly spun around and released his Slicing Sound Waves on him for being 'disloyal.' It wasn't as if he was directly challenging Orochimaru's clear authority – he was merely curious.

"I don't really know," Kin replied honestly. "But really Naruto – be a bit more careful. After all – curiosity killed the Kyuubi."

"The what?"

Kin paused.

"I overheard one of these farmers saying something about something called a Kyuubi the other day," she replied, shrugging, "but I'm not really sure what it is."

Their conversation was then cut short, as one of the farmers with greying hair, bowing all the while, approached Tayuya.

"Yes, what is it?" she asked.

The man was obviously troubled.

"Well," he muttered nervously, "the other day…my son was assaulted by one of your colleagues. Lord Kidomaru."

"Are you directly challenging the agenda of the Sound Four?" Tayuya demanded coldly. The old man leapt backwards slightly in mingled panic and shock.

"Err…no ma'am…I just…"

"I'll speak with him," Tayuya interrupted emotionlessly, and then continued to walk with Zaku, Naruto and Kin following her.

"If you don't mind me asking," she said without turning around. "What the reason for his assault on your son?"

"He mentioned the…k…Kyuubi ma'am…" the man faltered.

Tayuya's eyes suddenly became ablaze with anger.

"Then he deserved what he got!" she hissed. "You know full well talk of that subject is forbid amongst you!"

"Of course ma'am…" the farmer then retreated back to his line of work, leaving Naruto and Kin even more unsettled.

**Well, thanks for reading! I can confirm that Hinata and other Leaf Villagers will be appearing in the next chapter, but I can't confirm when that will be. Right now, I'm busy with work experience, which drains me, so I may not have much time in the evenings. But I'll update when I can.**

**Rate&Review!**


	3. Chapter 2

**Hi. Here's the next chapter of For Whom the Bell Tolls! Sorry if you were expecting it earlier – I had a little bit of writer's block, and was busy with work experience. But, that's finished now, so…**

**HERE IT IS!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I honestly don't.**

Chapter Two

"Stand up, Hanabi."

Hiashi Hyūga glared at his seven year old daughter, who had just been through a severe three hour training regime, and had collapsed onto her knees. But Hiashi was having none of it. Right now, a guest had just arrived, and suddenly, he was taken back to about a year ago, when Kurenai Yūri had taken Hinata in after he had disowned her. Now she was back, and Hinata with her.

"I really don't see what you're proposing," Hiashi snapped at Kurenai. "I'm done with this inferior, useless novice. Can't you see that?"

"The Third Hokage wishes it," Kurenai replied. "She will be entering the chuunin exams in a few weeks, and you should train her up for it, even if it's just for the day."

Hinata wasn't saying anything – she had her head down.

For years, she had suffered from verbal and occasional physical abuse from her father due to her lack of confidence. It hadn't helped that, shortly after giving birth to her sister, Hanabi, Hinata's mother, Konno, had died. This had made things a lot worse for her.

Hiashi really didn't want to take Hinata back on to train her, but it seemed he had no choice. He still remembered Hiruzen's warning.

"Alright," he decided. "Hinata! Prepare your sparring attire! Let's see if you can actually win against your six year younger sister this time, shall we?"

Kurenai left the building, but doubled back against the side, where her two other students, Kiba and Shino were waiting.

"OK, you two," she said. "You need to keep this under close observation. If Hinata gets brutally attacked in any way, you will have to step in."

Kiba nodded. "Alright, we'll make sure she comes to no harm, sensei."

"It will be difficult to keep it under close observation though," Shino commented. "We will not go unnoticed – not with Hiashi's Byakugan."

"It shouldn't be too difficult," Kurenai replied. "You are both excellent trackers. Espionage should really be your thing."

* * *

Hinata stood nervously on one side of the room. She had removed her jacket, forehead protector and sandals for the sparring. She felt quite exposed, especially next to a man whom she knew would not hesitate to beat her severely for failing. She unconsciously moved her hand to her back, where she still had marks from a beating she had received three years ago.

"Hinata!" Hiashi snarled. "Get back into your Gentle Fist position!"

"Sorry…" Hinata mumbled, activating her Byakugan.

Her sister Hanabi was at the other end of the room, overall more focused than she was.

When the order was given, Hanabi sprinted forward, her eyes set on determination.

Hinata immediately leapt backwards to give herself another second to make her decisions on her own defence.

Hanabi swung her hand forward, and Hinata blocked it. They went on like this for several minutes, just general hand-to-hand Gentle Fist fighting style. Hanabi aimed a kick at her sister's head, so Hinata jerked her head backwards in order to avoid it. To prevent her going off balance, she placed her hands on the ground, and prepared to back-flip in order to avoid the next attack and possibly return the favour of a kick. However, Hanabi was too quick. She aimed a blow straight at her legs. Hinata inadvertadly collapsed, and skidded along the ground, the knee to the sole of her right leg stinging.

But this time she was determined not to give up. This time she wanted to prove something.

But to whom? That was something Hinata was struggling with. Who had she got? Kurenai-sensei maybe, and also Kiba and Shino…

And yet for some reason, Hinata felt very deeply that these three were just not enough, and that there should be someone else, someone who, like her, was an outcast, and yet still carried on regardless of what life threw at them. Someone who never gave up, and treated her like an equal…

But Hinata had to snap out of these fantasies. She knew that such a person was an impossible dream. And in any case, it was time to concentrate on the sparring.

* * *

Hanabi watched her sister get back into the fighting stance. Strange, she never normally persevered for so long. She supposed this was good for her – after all, her father had always told her that her sister shouldn't be so weak.

Hanabi ran forward again, determined to continue it, swinging one of her palms straight at her sister's chest. Hinata blocked it, and then continued to block her attacks.

Hanabi was so focused on her strikes that she turned a completely blind eye when Hinata performed a leg sweep, causing her to stumble to the ground.

Hanabi immediatley leapt to her feet, hoping her sister would not strike her.

She didn't.

Hanabi was confused. Her sister was not preparing an attack at all. Instead, her arms were in the position to defend. Why?

Then some realisation dawned. Hinata was perfectly aware that she would be able to strike Hanabi, and possibly defeat her, but refused to, as she didn't want to harm her.

For some reason, instead of feeling grateful, Hanabi grew extremely angry. So this was how it was, was it? Proving her superiority by being merciful? This was not how it worked with her agenda. So, Hanabi leapt at her, striking her once, only to have it blocked. But now, Hanabi prepared a technique she had learned.

"Eight Trigrams!" she called. "Thirty-two palms!"

The quick relay of thirty-two strikes at Hinata's chakra points was too much for her to block every attack. Therefore, after coughing up some blood, she collapsed back onto the floor.

After seeing her sister on the floor like this, after she had been merciful on her, Hanabi had a sudden, dramatic change of heart. He got out of her fighting stance, and deactivated her Byakugan. Then, she walked forward and helped her sister up.

"I'm sorry…" she muttered guiltily. "I just felt that…that…"

But she was lost for words.

A vein throbbed in Hiashi's temple, and his face contorted into a wild snarl, his eyes shimmering with rage.

"HANABI!" he roared. "I thought you had more sense than this! What do you think you're doing?"

Then he fixed his penetrating gaze on Hinata.

"And you…" he seethed. He raised his hand and struck her hard across the shoulder. Then he did it again. Hinata took it all in silence. She was already far too used to this. When she had tried to get away last time, her father had simply grabbed her back by the hair.

Hanabi wasn't sure what to do. She watched with some horror as her father repeatedly attacked her sister, wondering which one of them was in the wrong.

However, the decision had already been made for her. An explosion of glass and wood over her head heralded the approach of someone who had their mind made up.

With a writhing mass of bright chakra, two identical figures dived into the room.

Both man-beast clones immediately got between Hiashi and Hinata. The one who was Kiba pulled Hinata to the side of the room away from further harm. The one who was Akamaru stopped Hiashi from moving any further.

"What the…?" the Hyūga elder raged.

Not responding, Kiba quickly half-carried Hinata out of the room, Akamaru soon turning back into a dog and following him.

As they found themselves in a long hallway, Kiba remarked,

"All the other senior Hyūgas are here by the sounds of things. I hope they'll let us leave."

"They won't give us any problems," came a stoic voice to their left. They looked to see Shino walking calmly towards them, several insects crawling back up his leg, and away from where they had just been – near the unconscious Hyūga elders.

"That was a little over the top, wasn't it?" Kiba asked, half exasperated, half amused.

"Maybe," Shino replied simply. "Anyway, that's not the problem right now. We need to get Hinata out."

And so, Team 8 quickly left the building.

Kiba wiped his brow.

"Well, I'm glad we pulled that off," he remarked. "Hiashi won't be able to complain about this – the Hokage will just laugh in his face! Ha!"

He then turned and saw Hinata, sitting against a tree, hugging her knees, eyes downcast.

"Oh no…" he muttered. "Not again." He knelt down and examined her shoulder. Red marks had seeped across it. Another one of her encounters with her father had gone terribly.

"What are we going to do about this?" Kiba asked desperately, looking at Hinata's still frame, completely indifferent to anything that was going on around her.

"There's nothing we can do," Shino replied simply.

"What?"

"You heard. As unfortunate as it is, it is beyond our control."

"But…then…"

"Only one person can sort it out," Shino continued, ignoring Kiba's stammers.

"Who?"

Shino paused.

"I'm not sure," he replied honestly. "But if we try to sort it out ourselves, with our lack of experience, it is likely we could make it worse. Come on, let's go and inform Kurenai-sensei of what happened."

He began to walk away. Kiba straightened up, took one last look at Hinata, still sitting there, hugging her knees, still without her jacket or shoes, looking exposed…

And vulnerable.

* * *

The shadows scuttled their way along the walls, as Tayuya strode through the dark, foreboding corridor, followed by Naruto, Zaku and Kin. They had been moving through this deep, interior part of the Hidden Sound Village for about half an hour, and they were all surprised to see how large it was. For once, Naruto was silent. He still remembered how Tayuya had become so angry at the mere mention of the Kyuubi. If he started probing questions about it, he would be lucky to escape decapitation.

Kin was also quiet. This Kyuubi business was something she felt she needed to follow up. If it had something to do with Tayuya's clan, then Kin knew it was her duty to her own clan to discover the truth. She frowned slightly as she thought of the Tsuchi clan's ideals. She was unsure whether it would be customary to tell her team-mates – after all, she reminded herself, she barely knew anything about them.

Eventually, Tayuya stopped at a door at the far end of a shady corridor. Turning the handle, she pushed it open with a loud creak that made them all cringe.

"You'll wait in here until a sensei is found for you," she informed them, nudging them all inside. When they were inside, she shut and locked the door behind them.

Naruto couldn't help but feel a sense of imprisonment. He had heard stories of Sound Village prisons – they certainly weren't places he wanted to visit in a hurry.

Perhaps this was some sort of test too?

Other than the three of them, the room had only one occupant – a genin that was far more of a mystery to them than the Kyuubi. He wore bandages around almost all of his face – only one eye was visible. Even though it couldn't be seen now (as he was sitting down) he had an extraordinarily hunched back, and long sleeves. This was an old acquaintance of theirs - Dosu Kinuta.

Dosu was currently seated against the wall at the far side of the room, his visible eye closed.

"You know," Zaku commented loudly. "I've never understood why you feel the need to constantly meditate!"

Dosu opened his eye and peered at Zaku reproachfully.

"Well," he said, a hint of annoyance in his voice. "If you're stuck in a completely bare room for a week, there is little else you can do."

He stood up, though if your back is as hunched as Dosu's, this is not much of an impressive move.

"So, how come you three have taken so long to pass?" he growled.

"Naruto," Zaku replied at once, other things now on his mind, "Did you say…a week?"

"Yes, but you won't have to wait that long. We'll be getting our sensei soon enough."

Kin nudged Naruto.

"Hey," she whispered. "Maybe we should ask him."

"What about?"

"The Kyuubi of course."

Dosu froze.

"The Kyuubi…" he muttered, having heard every word they had just said. He paused. They could tell from his visible eye that he was deep in thought.

Eventually, he nodded.

"Yes," he said. "I've heard of the Kyuubi…"

"What is it?" Naruto demanded, taking a step forward.

Dosu surveyed him cautiously.

"Why should I tell you?" he requested.

Zaku cleared his throat loudly.

"This stuff is completely classified!" he growled. "Any mention of it is strictly prohibited! Anyway, Kin…" he rounded on her. "What about you? You're clan has been up to something. I've been noticing it for a while."

Dosu also looked at her questioningly. Kin scowled.

"That too is classified," she told them tartly.

Naruto groaned in frustration.

"Honestly! Why do you guys have so much to hide?" he demanded of them, not realising the sheer irony of what he had just said.

* * *

The long, pale, bony fingers tapped rhythmically upon the arm of the chair. The owner of them looked at the ninja kneeling before him through gold, slit-pupil eyes.

"Rise, Kabuto," Orochimaru said softly. "What news?"

The silver-haired bespectacled ninja straightened up, as usual, a smug expression on his face.

"Naruto and the other two lagging genin have now passed," he said formally. "They are with the Kinuta boy in the secure room, awaiting training."

Orochimaru smiled.

"Good. Better late than never. The Kinuta boy you say? This certainly makes things interesting…" he licked his lips tenderly, his grotesque tongue snaking its way across his face, thirsty for blood.

"So," he continued. "Have you come to request that you be the one to train them?"

"Oh no, my lord," Kabuto replied, still smiling. "You see, with such a cast as those four, I feel only one person can train them up properly." He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a ninja info card.

"I'm pretty sure you'll agree," he commented, handing the card to the snake sennin.

When Orochimaru saw which ninja was on the card, his eyes lit up with malice, and his white-fanged grin seemed to glow in the half-light.

"Oh yes…" he crooned.

"Perfect…"

**And there you have it! Well, I hope you enjoyed it! Rate & Review, as per usual. I'm afraid I can't confirm when the next chapter will come, nor the next chapter of my other fanfic, Caught in the Crossfire (if you haven't read it yet, you're perfectly welcome to look at my profile!), but I'll try my best to get them both to you! So, have a good morning/afternoon/evening! **


	4. Chapter 3

**Hello, and welcome to the next chapter. Sorry it's late; I've been going through a rough patch at the moment. I also apologise for the shortness of it. I'll try my best to make the chapters longer in future. Without further ado, here it is.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. He doesn't own me either.**

Chapter Three

The rhythmic beeping of the monitors could have been considered distressing, but from one young man's perspective, it was simply commonplace.

As the monitors continued to play out the sounds of life, he lapsed back into deep thoughts. Such thoughts plagued him in a constant stream. Thoughts about his life, his past, his future…

A future that was beginning to take on a form of some kind.

He heard the door creak open, and a figure entered the dark and silent (save for the beeping monitors) room.

"Kabuto-sensei," the man rasped. "This is a lot earlier than your regular check-up. What is the issue at hand?"

Kabuto didn't answer straight away. Instead, he walked over to the heart and breathing monitors that surrounded the room, over-grown with a criss-cross of wires that held the machines in a cold metal embrace. Sweeping some of these tangled leads aside, Kabuto looked closely at the pulse monitor, the flickering light of it reflected in his glasses.

"Well," he said. "From what I can see, everything is normal. And that's good, as there is a task you are needed for."

He turned around to see what effect this statement had had on the man wired up to the machines. As far as he could see so far, nothing had perturbed him.

"What sort of task?" he asked eventually.

Kabuto smiled. "The task that you aspire at, Kimimaro. Training."

Kimimaro lapsed into deep thought once more.

"You mean to say…more genin have passed the preliminary competence test?" he asked, his emotions impossible to read.

"Yes. They are in the secure room," Kabuto replied. "Quite an interesting group too. That's why we chose you for the job. Nobody else could do it."

"We?" Kimimaro repeated, and as he said this, Kabuto heard the speed of the pulse monitor escalate.

"Yes," Kabuto replied, his smirk broadening. "Both me and Lord Orochimaru came to the mutual agreement that you must be the one to train them. There is nobody else."

Kimimaro pondered this briefly. Orochimaru was unquestionably the most important person to him. If he needed a task done, then…

"Okay, Kabuto-sensei," Kimimaro continued eventually. "What makes this group as interesting as you claim?"

"They're made up of four individuals from all walks of life," Kabuto replied calmly. "They are – The Abumi orphan, the Kinuta prodigy, the Tsuchi heiress and…" he paused for effect, "…the Nine-Tailed jinchuuriki."

The pulse monitor escalated again, and this time it was more prolonged. Eventually, all the monitors ceased entirely, and shut down, as Kimimaro Kaguya, rose, broke free of the wires binding him to his sick-bed, and prepared to do the job he was given.

* * *

Kin carefully twisted the nylon wire through her fingers. In her head, she counted the number of times it would twist around her thumb and index finger before breaking.

"…_seven…eight…"_

She had been working and training with nylon wire since she was six years old. She was well informed on how to test the strength of them. Continuing to wind it through her fingers, she hung a small bell from the web of wire she had created around her hand.

The bell began to sway ever so gently. As she surveyed it, she couldn't help but be reminded off the ancient motto of the Tsuchi clan.

'_It should never be asked for whom the bell tolls…'_

To be honest, she had never really understood the meaning of this phrase. Did it hold any relevance at all to Tayuya's clan…?

She shook her head, and pocketed the wire and bell. Right now, this was not the thing to be focused on. She pulled some more wire from her pocket, and began to test it.

"…_one…two…three…fo…"_

"Will you two keep it down?" she suddenly snapped at Naruto and Zaku, who were having a heated, 'whispered' discussion. Kin never knew it was possibly to whisper so loudly.

The two boys glanced at her, looking partially offended, then continued in lower tones.

Rolling her eyes, Kin glanced over at Dosu. He was once again sat against the wall, his visible eye closed.

Thinking bitterly that it was lucky for him that he could concentrate better than she could, she was about to continue testing the wire, but suddenly, her vision began to blur.

"What…wha…" It was meant to be a shout, but it only came out as a feeble whisper. Whatever force had suddenly filled the room, be it genjutsu, ninjutsu, or something else, it was powerful. She was about to open her mouth again to protest, but then her vision completely went, and she was sucked into the void.

In less than five seconds, all four of the room's occupants were deeply unconscious.

* * *

The first thing that Kin noticed when she awoke was the light. It burned into her eyes as though they were being deliberately melted. Being in a dark room for two hours hadn't prepared her for the fierce light of the reality, which was the sun.

As she blinked furiously, trying to work out if she were still alive, she began to be able to make out a figure, standing in front of her.

"Yes, it burns your eyes," came a deep, sombre voice. "But imagine it from my perspective. I spent a week in that room."

How could Kin not have recognised the hunched back? It was Dosu.

Blinking again just to make sure, she unsteadily climbed to what she hoped were her feet. Disorientation didn't serve her well.

"Where exactly are…"

Her question was answered as her eyes became accustomed to the harsh light, and she took a look around. Where exactly they were, was nowhere. They were not in a green field surrounded by forest, nor in a rice field. A flat, lifeless ground, with nothing but small rocks as far as the eye could see. The only scenery that was different were Naruto and Zaku who were lying down, but both beginning to stir.

Kin turned back to Dosu.

"So what…"

But then, noticing something out of the corner of her eye, she swivelled her head to the source of the sight, and gasped.

A young man was standing in front of them. He would have been unremarkable, if it were not for the fact that he was simply staring at them, without saying a word. He had hair white enough to make snow envious, some of which hung in two braids on either side of his face. He was also wearing the tunic customary for members of the Sound Four, with the large, purple belt, that twisted up behind him. However, Kin had never seen him before in her life.

"I've tried speaking to him," Dosu told her. "He hasn't said a word. He seems to be…I'm not sure…waiting?"

"Waiting for what?" muttered Zaku, walking over to the group to join in the stare at this mysterious man. Naruto, uncharacteristically silent, walked over to join them.

Then, to all of their surprise, the man spoke.

"Well, now you're all awake," he said, his voice calm and steady, "We can begin. As you may have guessed, it was I who knocked you all out. It was the only way to begin the first part of your training. Showing you the truth behind the life of an Oto ninja. We shall now continue this training trend, face-to-face. I am now your sensei, and my name is Kimimaro."

The four of them didn't know what to say. It seemed that it would be a grave mistake to interrupt, so they remained silent.

"I will not waste time asking about each of you. Actions speak louder than words. If I am to get to know you, it'll be by how you fight, and how you train…not by what you tell me. How am I to know you're speaking the truth?"

"Umm…excuse me…" Zaku muttered, raising his hand. "What about our names, sensei?"

"I already know them," Kimimaro replied. "Zaku Abumi, Kin Tsuchi, Dosu Kinuta and Naruto Uzumaki." He paused, wondering why Orochimaru hadn't changed Naruto's name…after all, with the Leaf on the constant search for him, wouldn't it have been wiser to give him a completely new identity?

But he supposed he had had his reasons. Kimimaro had never considered the idea that Orochimaru may not have thought everything through, and the thought of being so disloyal terrified him. So, he thought no more of it.

The four sound students were all deeply astonished that their names were known, but, wanting to create a good impression on their new sensei, they hid their surprise.

Naruto bowed slightly.

"Please to meet you Kimimaro-sensei," he said. Though Naruto acted very loud and brash in front of his peers, he had a deep respect for his elders. This was something that you needed to have if you wanted to survive in the Hidden Sound Village.

Kimimaro showed no sign of acknowledging Naruto's politeness. Instead, he looked at the group as a whole, and said,

"To see if you are worthy enough to be sound ninja in my group, the training exercise is simple."

What he did next both fascinated and disgusted the watchful genin, but again, they tried not to show it.

Their sensei had pulled on the right sleeve of his tunic so that the skin of his shoulder was revealed. Then, something began to protrude from it – long and white, like a bone…

Kimimaro gripped the end of it with his left hand and pulled it clear from his shoulder altogether. He now held it in front of them, and they could now see that it took the shape of a long dagger.

"Your task is this," he said. "Kill me."

They all blinked at him. Had they heard him correctly? It certainly wasn't what they were expecting to hear…

"You see," Kimimaro continued. "If you are a sound ninja you do not serve the whole 'way of the ninja,' garbage. You serve one ninja, Lord Orochimaru. You understand that, yes?"

They nodded uncertainly.

"Assassination plays a key role in being a sound ninja. If you are not prepared to do it, then you cannot properly serve Orochimaru. I have to say, I'm quite disappointed in your slow reaction."

"What?" Zaku asked, trying to sound as convincing as possible.

"You woke up in an unfamiliar area with an unfamiliar person staring at you. And you didn't react?"

None of them could find a decent response to give. Even Dosu, whose intelligence seemed considerable, couldn't think of anything to say.

"However," Kimimaro continued. "In this case, I'm giving you another chance." He took a deep breath. "Start."

Zaku was the first to react. Moving into a posture ready to both attack and defend, he advanced quickly upon his new sensei. Reaching into his pouch, he drew three shuriken, and threw them.

Reacting quickly also, Kimimaro slashed his dagger through the air a few times. The shuriken were all instantly cut in two.

Zaku stared in shock and his destroyed weapons. How could bone be so sharp?

Dosu, deciding to take matters into his own hands, also ran forward, pulling his sleeve up to reveal his Melody Arm.

He swung his arm forward. Kimimaro avoided it, but that was the trick to Dosu's sound attack. He didn't need to touch anyone with it. He smiled behind his bandages. Soon, his sensei would be down.

But he was wrong.

"Camellia Dance!" Their sensei declared, performing a very rapid series of slashes and thrust attacks with his bone dagger, which Dosu could barely avoid and block.

Collapsing to the ground and with several small cuts over his body, he looked up at their sensei in awe and potential fear.

"How did you…?"

"As you may have guessed by now, my true powers lie within my bones," Kimimaro replied. "I simply expanded my stirrup bones to create a completely sound-proof barrier within my ears."

Dosu nodded, and stood up.

"I should have guessed…" he muttered.

In a sudden move, Kimimaro began to speed towards them all.

"In a real assassination," he explained. "The victim will undeniably fight back. I'm simply giving you all a taste."

The four of them had a split-second decision to make.

"Split up! Split up!" Dosu yelled, and the four of them leapt off in different directions.

* * *

"So Kabuto," Orochimaru addressed his lieutenant. "Has he begun?"

"Yes, my lord," Kabuto replied. "I feel that after today, we can truly see if these four are good material."

"Oh, I'm sure they will be," the sennin replied, his white-fanged smile making an appearance on his pale face. He twisted in his chair that was sat at his desk and gazed at the wall, as though fascinated by it.

"If they aren't, Kimimaro will undoubtedly weed out the weaker ones."

"Naruto won't be weeded out, I believe," Kabuto remarked. "Not with what's inside him."

"Of course not," his master agreed. "Nor that Tsuchi girl…" he paused, his malevolent smirk being replaced with a scowl.

"With her in this position though…hmm…I wonder…" he drummed his skeletal fingers on his desk.

"I'm curious to see how much the Tsuchi clan have found out."

"None of them will tell us anything," Kabuto replied. "But…considering her history with that clan…I'm pretty sure Tayuya will have things to say."

The snake-like leer returned.

"Then pay her a visit, Kabuto," Orochimaru ordered, snaking his long tongue over his lips.

Kabuto bowed.

"At once my lord."

**And there you have it. Once again, sorry it's so short, and also if Kimimaro seemed a bit OOC to you. I'm afraid I haven't seen enough of him. But, even though it is a short and delayed chapter, there is good news on the horizon…there will be a sequel to this.**

**Yeah, OK, it's not that exciting…anyway, Rate&Review, and have a good morning/afternoon/evening/night!**


	5. Chapter 4

**And here it is! The latest chapter!**

**Now, recently I found out something quite surprising. I had always thought that the Sound Five were in their twenties. They looked like it to me. Then, I discovered that Kimimaro was only 15. And the rest were all 14! This didn't really work for my plots for this fanfic, so I'm afraid I had to modify some of the timelines. In this fanfic, Kimimaro will be 18-19 sort of age, whilst Tayuya, for reasons that will become clear later on, is still teenage – 15.**

**Anyway, that aside, I'm going to shut up and let you read. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto. But if I did, you might end up with something like this.**

Chapter Four

Naruto lay in the dirt, listening to nothing but the sound of his own shallow breaths. His ear was pressed into the ground beneath him, causing the gravel to crunch underneath it.

Unlike open woodland, this barren plain had no decent places to hide and remain unseen. Naruto had managed to find some sort of crevice, but it wasn't ideal; he still had to be on the constant alert - hence his ear to the ground, listening.

Living in the sound village meant that you naturally enhanced your hearing when still young; and as sound travels through solids far better than it does gases, Naruto hoped he would be able to get forewarnings of Kimimaro's approach.

His heart pounded as he listened. He was defiantly sure that any second, he would hear impending footsteps.

But what did arrive was something he wasn't prepared for.

A deafeningly loud, high-pitched, ominous note struck him straight in the eardrum, the force of the sound wave blasting him out of the crevice. Naruto felt his eardrum burst as he was flung clean into the air. He clutched his ear in pain and felt blood…the blood on his hand soon became as blurred as the rest of the world, as his head spun with the pain flooding through it.

He was unconscious before he hit the ground.

* * *

Kimimaro surveyed the chasm that had been caused by Dosu's Echo Drill attack. It was a pretty powerful attack – but if it was his only one, there wasn't a lot to be worrying about.

Dissolving the expansions on his stirrup bones that were blocking any sound from reaching his eardrums, Kimimaro looked straight into Dosu's visible eye.

"You seem eager," he commented.

Dosu nodded carefully.

"I figured that I shouldn't waste time in attempting the task you sent me."

"Is that so?" his sensei replied. "You were the one who yelled at the others to split up."

"That's because I know that a sudden change in the number of choices can easily wrong-foot someone," Dosu replied. "At that point, it's easy to let your guard down. That time, I knew, was the correct time to attack."

"Those are good perception skills," Kimimaro complimented. "But for nothing I'm afraid."

He raised his free hand, and bones began to quickly extend from the tips of his five fingers.

When they were the correct length, he fired them out of his fingers and they shot towards Dosu. All this he did in about a second.

"Digital Shrapnel!"

Skidding backwards, Dosu did the only thing he could think of doing to avoid getting injured by these projectile bones. He raised his melody arm to shield his face.

There was a dull clang as the finger bullets made contact with the metalwork. He didn't believe too much damage had been done, but when he looked at his contraption, there were deep dents in it, marking where the bones had struck.

He didn't have much time to ponder this however. When he looked up, he saw that Kimimaro was sprinting towards him; bone-dagger held aloft and face expressionless.

"Dammit!" Dosu cursed mentally, jerking his head backwards to avoid a strike from his sensei's weapon. Despite what his hunch-backed form may suggest, Dosu was surprisingly agile. After dodging several more strikes, he leapt into the air and performed a neat flip over Kimimaro, landing perfectly on his feet.

Kimimaro wasn't perturbed however – he raised his bone-dagger again, and swung it down onto his student. Dosu didn't have the stamina to dodge another blow, so he blocked it with his melody arm.

As the grating sound of metal on bone began to cut through the still air, Kimimaro began to feel a strange sensation in his lower arm.

He could feel his bone-dagger vibrating, and the vibrations were beginning to travel the length of his whole arm…

He quickly withdrew his hand from Dosu's contraption, but to little avail. His weapon continued to vibrate horrifically, so much he was eventually forced to let go. As he did so, the dagger shattered. Tiny pieces of bone fragment showered onto the lifeless earth, and Kimimaro was unarmed.

"My melody arm can relay vibrations that are forced upon it," Dosu explained. "Then I can use my chakra to pinpoint the sound waves onto any target I desire, such as your dagger. Now you have no weapon!"

Kimimaro felt he could detect triumph in Dosu's voice. He almost laughed

"Don't be so hasty to announce that," he advised. Another bone-dagger began to protrude from his shoulder. He wrenched it out, and balanced it in his hand.

"You see," he said, finding it difficult to hide his smugness "All my weapons are indefinitely renewable."

Dosu sighed. How could he forget that all the sound shinobi were ruddy impossible?

At least he had a plan B.

As Kimimaro prepared to charge once again, a defiant yell rent the air.

"Slicing Sound Waves!"

Zaku had leapt in from nowhere, just as ninja do sometimes. He had angled his attack perfectly, so whilst Kimimaro, caught by surprise, was forced backwards, Dosu simply stood there.

"Good work, Zaku," Dosu complimented. If Zaku was irritated at all at being addressed as though he was five years junior, he didn't show it. He merely nodded, his eyes fixed on Kimimaro, who was staring them down.

"You could have come out a bit sooner though," Dosu added. "I was almost killed!"

Zaku's lip curled.

"Well, I was entertained!" he replied smugly.

Kimimaro didn't react to anything they were saying. He merely charged once again.

Not to be outdone, Zaku shoved his hands into the earth. The Slicing Sound Waves created a massive cushion of air underneath the earth which blossomed up rapidly, almost burying their sensei.

"If I continue to distract him in this way," Zaku continued. "You'll be able to apply the killer blow!"

Dosu nodded, and sprinted away, once again uncovering his melody arm.

Kimimaro meanwhile, had managed to avoid getting consumed by the earth tsunami, but now Zaku had approached him.

"Slicing Sound Waves!"

Although Kimimaro stood his ground this time, the pressure of the air blasts prevented him from moving forward.

"_These air modifying attacks of his certainly make great stalling weapons…"_ he pondered.

Dosu meanwhile, was taking advantage of having Kimimaro's back turned. Running towards him, he prepared to strike him with his melody arm full on. If he could channel his sound waves through the water in Kimimaro's body, then maybe he would stay down. Zaku was certainly providing enough distraction. Dosu smiled behind his bandages. They had him nailed.

"Now to end this!" he declared, planting his weaponry arm firmly into Kimimaro's back, and releasing the most powerful sonic attack his chakra would allow.

* * *

Tayuya scratched her chin absent-mindedly as she read through one of her old clan constitution letters. Read probably wasn't the correct term to use. She had stared at the first sentence for a whole minute before she realised she hadn't taken in a single word.

It was hardly as though this stuff was important anymore. The Kyuubi hadn't been sighted since almost before she was born.

She turned the page, then saw how long it went on for and gave it up as a bad job.

Closing her eyes, she cast her mind back to when she had seen Kin earlier. It must have been the first time in, what? Three years? Perhaps four? Well, roles had changed dramatically since then. She sighed as she thought about it. This seemed to go against the whole Tsuchi-Furūto relationship agreement…though as long as no other catalysts were thrown into the mix…that could easily start another war.

Tayuya was known and generally feared throughout the Land of Rice as one of Orochimaru's enforcers. However, few people knew that she was only 15. She may be one of the most important people in the country, but she was still a teenager at heart – a heart which ached with the yearning of being an ordinary adolescent. She could tell that Kin was somewhat envious of her in her position, but in all honesty, Tayuya was far more jealous of her. She dreamed of a normal life…or as normal as the life of an Oto ninja gets.

Just then, there was a knock at her door, and she automatically picked up her demon flute.

She briefly considered summoning her Doki, but then put the flute down.

No. What was she thinking? Since when did intruders knock?

But a ninja must see through deception…

She picked it up again.

Upon opening her door and seeing Kabuto there, she held her flute to her lips.

"OK Kabuto…how can I be sure you're not an impostor?" she demanded.

Kabuto smiled.

"I may be, but you don't believe that, do you? An impostor would not knock, nor would he target you, if he were attacking the Sound Village as a whole, do you agree?"

Tayuya sighed.

"I suppose…I'm just really highly strung at the moment…"

"Understandable," Kabuto replied. Without invitation, he strode into her apartment.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Tayuya demanded.

Kabuto turned to her and smirked.

"It's simple enough really…" he said. "Tell me – how much does Kin Tsuchi know?"

Tayuya glowered at him.

"About what?"

"About the Uchiha. And, more pressingly, the Kyuubi."

"OK – she knows nothing concerning the Uchiha. None of the Tsuchi clan or even the remainders of my clan know. It is a matter between Lord Orochimaru, you, and the Sound Four."

"Make that five," Kabuto corrected her. "Kimimaro has rejoined, and he is now their sensei."

A moment of fleeting panic crossed Tayuya's face, but she tried her best to hide it.

"Well – that's good. There's no better person to keep what Kin knows in check," she muttered in reply, trying, and failing to sound convincing.

"We thought so too," Kabuto continued. "And there were other reasons for choosing him as well. You still haven't answered my other question. What does she know about the Kyuubi?"

"She doesn't know what it is," Tayuya replied flatly. "I heard her talking to the Uzumaki kid about it. But I don't get why I have to be so secretive about it!"

Kabuto pushed his glasses slightly up his nose.

"Of course," he said, nodding. "You don't yet know. But as you're one of the last Furūtos still alive, and a member of the Sound Five, its time you were informed."

"Informed of what?" Tayuya was growing both impatient and uncomfortable with this conversation and the direction it was heading in.

"Informed of the fact that Naruto Uzumaki of the Orphan Corps is the jinchuuriki for the Kyuubi," Kabuto replied, calmly.

Tayuya simply gaped. She couldn't believe it.

"But then…"

"He was taken from Konoha at birth," Kabuto continued. "Lord Orochimaru knew that he would be a valuable weapon, and would be treated and raised decently here. He is also most likely to become heir if the plan for the Uchiha boy fails. He knows nothing about this of course."

"But why are you telling me?" Tayuya demanded.

"Because Lord Orochimaru trusts your clan; not the Tsuchis." Kabuto informed her steadily. "I know this goes against your clan's constitution, but perhaps you should be reminded of what the Tsuchi clan did to them?"

"But not Kin personally!" Tayuya protested. "She told me she would change all that once she became head!"

"How old was she when she said that?" Kabuto countered. "Nine? She was only a child. Once she becomes head, the same old ways will stick. I think it's time, Tayuya, when you considered truly where your loyalties lie."

There was an uncomfortable silence.

"Well," Kabuto said eventually, turning to leave. "I think that's all. Have a nice day."

And so he left, leaving Tayuya standing in her hallway, completely dumbfounded.

* * *

Back on the lifeless plain, there was no movement from Kimimaro.

Dosu had sent a sonic wave into his body by the use of his Melody Arm, which was still planted firmly in his back. He had expected Kimimaro to keel over. But nothing was happening.

Then, suddenly, his sensei's back began to pulsate, and soon, long white spikes began to protrude from it, dripping with body fluids.

Bones.

Before Dosu could react, his arm was cut by some of these bones. He groaned, half from the pain, and half from exasperation. Was there no way to defeat this man?

"I had to create a whole new layer of bones in my back, just to block the sonic wave," Kimimaro explained, voice as level as ever. "Sorry – no use."

"_Though it was an extremely close thing,"_ he thought to himself. _"These two can clearly use their teamwork to ruthless efficiency. At least they are competent in that area. However, they're still holding back. There's something they don't quite get. I'll have to show them."_

He pulled his tunic off from his other shoulder, causing it to hang around his knees. With most of his torso now bare, a strange, wheel-shaped mark could be made out in the centre of his chest.

"_No other choice…" _

The mark began to rotate, glowing a fiery red and causing other marks to spread over his chest.

At the same time, more white spiked bones began to obtrude from his forearm. In a single swift movement, he spun round and struck Dosu hard across the face with his fortified limb, sending the bandaged ninja flying backwards, blood dripping from various points on his body.

Kimimaro then turned back to Zaku and raised his bone-dagger.

"Camellia Dance!"

Zaku too became covered in various cuts. Within a few seconds, both had retreated.

Kimimaro nodded to himself. That was predictable enough.

* * *

Naruto awoke with his head throbbing and his vision blurry. It felt like a hangover from at least twenty bottles of Sake. Naruto had never drunk Sake before, but he was sure that this was what a hangover would feel like. That thought quickly put him off the idea of drinking.

As his head cleared, he suddenly realised that the one sense that wasn't affected at all was his hearing. But that was impossible. One of Dosu's Echo Drill attacks had caused his eardrum to burst. He had felt it! At yet, strangely enough, it still seemed to be intact. Somehow, his eardrum had healed.

But he decided it would be best to save the answer to that mystery for later. Shading his eyes and surveying the horizon, he saw Kimimaro, as usual, simply standing there.

Ninja are meant to be stealthy. They are meant to wait until an enemy's guard has been dropped, and use the element of surprise. However, Naruto's rules were a little different…

"OKAY KIMIMARO-SENSEI!" he hollered, beaming proudly and standing in plain sight of said ninja.

"I'm gonna try and complete the task you set me!"

Kimimaro blinked.

"You were raised in the orphan corps, correct?" he asked.

In the Hidden Sound Village, some ninja are raised by their clans, but due to the circumstances of the formation of the village, there were so many orphaned ninja hopefuls, that Orochimaru eventually commissioned a whole area to be built to house them. They would remain there before the time came for sound ninja to give them the competence test, to see if they would be able to train under a sensei.

"Yes! That's right!" Naruto nodded. "And whilst other ninja were simply being trained in the art of their clans, we got useful insights and jutsu from all the professional Sound Shinobi! Lord Orochimaru himself gave Zaku those wind cannons in his arms, and I got to learn all kinds of tricks!"

He placed his hands into a hand-sign.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Two shadow clones appeared on either side of him, and then quickly sprinted off until the three Narutos were eventually surrounding Kimimaro as the angles of a triangle.

"Shadow Clones," said ninja commented. "Interesting."

"Yeah!" Naruto agreed enthusiastically. "And the good thing about shadow clones is that you can get them to perform jutsu with you!"

With his shadow clones mirroring him, Naruto began to form hand seals. Tiger…snake…

In unison, the three Narutos raised their arms.

"Striking Shadow Snakes!"

Long, dark serpents shot out of Naruto's sleeve, as well as the sleeves of his two shadow clones. These snakes were all speeding towards Kimimaro.

"So, he's learnt some snake-style jutsu, as he's demonstrating," he thought to himself. "But he's not demonstrating the snake jutsu I had in mind. He's still holding back."

Just as the snakes prepared to bite him, Kimimaro's ribcage expanded, spiking out to create a fortress that protected his torso and back. This extremely strong bone was all the snakes bit into.

Worse still, bones had now protruded over the snakes' heads, locking them in place. Naruto and his shadow clones couldn't wrench themselves free.

"Hey, what gives?" Naruto demanded, tugging with all his might. "What's with all the bones anyway?"

Kimimaro raised the arm that had spiked bones projected from it.

"This," he explained. "Is my kekkei genkai. You know, in battle, it isn't wise to let your enemy get hold of you so easily." He began to contract his ribcage, forcing the Narutos to be dragged towards him.

"Well…what are you going to do?" Naruto demanded, trying to sound braver than he actually felt, when he was right up next to his sensei.

"I'm going to show you my Larch Dance," Kimimaro replied. He began to rotate, his bone appendages cutting into the also rotating Narutos. His two shadow clones instantly dissolved in a puff of smoke, and the Shadow Snakes were cut to shreds. Eventually, cut and bleeding, the real Naruto was flung off and sent crashing to the ground.

From her vantage point on a high rock a few hundred yards away, Kin watched her team-mate collapse through a pair of binoculars she always carried with her ninja tools. It seemed that simple ninjutsu and taijutsu were not going to get to Kimimaro. Dosu and Zaku had also proved that. But to her surprise, Dosu hadn't noticed the obvious…

Well, she thought, sighing. If those three couldn't look after themselves, she supposed she would have to step up to the task at hand. It was always the women that had to finish the job, and the men got all the credit.

* * *

Kin stood before Kimimaro, jaw set.

"I figured you would have to come out sooner her later," Kimimaro remarked. "The rest have tried and failed. What makes you think you can do any better?"

"Well, for a start," Kin replied. "I seem to be the only one who can see it."

"See what?"

"This place. It's bare, lifeless…no such place exists in the Land of Rice. It's named after its good harvest."

"So what?" Kimimaro countered. "Who's to say you're in the Land of Rice?"

"The law," Kin retorted. "One of the major ninja regulation laws of Otogakure. No underage ninja must leave the country until they are fully qualified as sound shinobi. With this law and the geography of my home country in mind, there are only three possibilities.

"One: The law has changed. This I doubt, as there is no reason for it to change. Two: You're being disloyal. This is even less likely; as you told us before that we must dedicate our lives to serving Orochimaru. Three: This is a genjutsu. I have to say, this is the only really logical conclusion. But even Dosu didn't see it."

Kin placed her hands in the Tiger Seal.

"Release!"

The scenery swam before them, until it was eventually replaced by a grassy field, bordered by open woodland.

Kimimaro seemed unimpressed.

"I expected you to see through it," he stated simply. "You're clan are infamous genjutsu masters, after all. You've seen through it – so what? You still won't be able to defeat me."

"Maybe not," Kin agreed, pulling a clutch of senbon from her pouch. "But you asked me to attempt this task. So I will."

Kimimaro nodded.

"In that case," he said. "I may have to show you my Clematis Dance."

**Cliffhanger!**

**Yes, most of my chapters seem to end like that. Well, stay tuned. I hoped you enjoyed the chapter. Rate & Review, as always. Give me your thoughts and theories on the plot. I openly welcome that. Until next time, have a good morning/afternoon/evening/night! **


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